Selecting devices for circular knitting machines



F. SEILER Dec. 28, 1965 SELECTING DEVICES FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 30, 1963 Fig.2

/ 4270 News F. SEILER Dec. 28 1965 SELECTING DEVICES FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2:

Filed Sept. 30, 1963 Fig.3a

lNVENTOF? FRITZ SE/LEF? AT/ PNEV Dec. 28, 1965 F. SEILER 3,225,567

SELECTING DEVICESFOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 50, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig, 5

I Fig. 5a

/'/VVE'NTOR 2 FRITZ SE/LEF? United States Patent 3,225,567 SELECTING DEVICES FOR (IIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Fritz Seiler, Corcelles, Neuchatel, Switzerland, assignor to Edouard Duhied et Cie. (Socit Anonyme), Couvet, Neuchatel, Switzerland Filed Sept. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 312,519 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Sept. 28, 1962, 11,464/ 62 6 Claims. (Cl. 66-50) The present invention relates to selecting devices for circular knitting machines, and more particularly multifeed circular rib top machines for the selection and positioning of knitting tools that are independent of one another, e.g. needles selectors, selectors, jacks or pushers for the purpose of the selective production of any desired stitch or color patterns, or of varied stitch (loop) connections, such as may exist, for example, in knit fabrics having a separating course, a fixed set-up, and a successive passage to a 2:2 selvedge.

The considered selecting device comprises as a program carrier a single endless selection band cooperating with a series of identical pattern wheels distributed over the circumference of the machine for any desired selection and positioning of selectors mounted therein, which, after the selection by the band are longitudinally displaced into a predetermined operating position for acting upon the knitting tools which are to be selected, and which are then either locked in the same position for any frequency of repeats of the stored selection, or are again brought back automatically and selectively into any one of at least two starting positions provided for through the agency of a controllable lowering cam and via displaceable shifting members in order to be selected again by the selection band.

Selecting devices having endless selection bands are already known. One prior embodiment provides an individual selection band for each knitting system which is positioned at the point of contact of the knitting tools to be selected around an ordinary guide pulley and which band has sections which have been punched out according to the pattern and which act directly on the butts of said knitting tools. Such an embodiment is described in U.S. Patent 2,370,619.

In another embodiment, the sole selection band that is common to all the knitting systems contains only a single pattern of any desired height and the corresponding pattern wheels are designed in such a way that the selectors mounted therein always return to the same invariable initial position after the selection has been transmitted to the corresponding knitting tools. A device of this kind is described in United States Patent No. 2,611,253. The selection band in that case acts only as an ordinary pattern band.

Another already known example of a selecting device likewise serving exclusively as a pattern band includes a selection band which may receive a plurality of patterns which will then occupy each, one after the other, a section of the band. Such an arrangement, however, restricts the height of the pattern, since only one revolution of the machine is available for the execution thereof. A detailed description of this embodiment is contained in British Patent No. 744,128. Also in this embodiment, the pattern wheels cooperating with the band have only a single invariable selection level for the pattern selectors.

Therefore, with these known devices it is not possible to accommodate several patterns of any desired height in the same pattern wheel and to change automatically in the same knit work from one pattern to another one.

The above statements relate particularly to pure Jacquard-type circular knitting machines which serve in most cases for the manufacture of continuous colored pattern fabrics.

However, circular knitting machines serving for the knitting of single piece goods, with fixed selvedge and wtih unlimited colored or open work pattern require, apart from a suitable patterning device, also a special control system for all the elements which participate in the knitting operation and which are necessary for effecting the automatic passages for the set-up and for the selvedge and from the selvedge to the article length. This involves one of the forms of classic structure of the fixed selvedge composed, for example, of the separating course, the fixed set-up, the passage rows and a 2:2 selvedge, in other words, of a multiplicity of successive and different stitch (loop) types and needle selections. In the case of the hitherto known solutions one provides special selecting and controlling mechanisms for automatically carrying out these knitting operations, which mechanisms are actuated mechanically, electromagnetically, hydraulically, pneumatically or otherwise to operate the related cams and knitting tools. Such devices, particularly when they are used on multi-feed circular knitting machines, lead to extremely complicated constructions which considerably impair the facility of inspection and the accessibility to the machine. Due to the inevitable complexity of the necessary control and transmission elements, their reliability and safety of operation is often reduced.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid all these drawbacks, and to provide a selecting device for circular knitting machines, particularly for multi-feed circular rib top knitting machines, in which not only the selection of the knitting tools (needles, pushers, etc.) according to the pattern for the production of a plurality of stitch (loop) or colored patterns of any desired size is consigned to a single endless selection band which is common to all the selector pattern wheels of the knitting systems, and effects also the actuation of all movable parts participating in the knitting operation for the purpose of producing other types of knitted fabrics. To this end, the band is not only provided with the known two rows of punched groups as described and shown in US. Patent 2,611,253 (FIG. 14 elements 37 and 38) but, also, with at least two or more double tracks of punched rows in superposed relation, and the selectors in the pattern wheels which are known per se (through said U.S. Patent 2,611,253) are adapted accordingly to be longitudinally and selectively moved in said wheels so that they can assume by an appropriate change of level not only a single, invariable, but also at least two or even more difierent initial positions to transmit in this way the said punched groups in any desired sequence and cadence to the operating parts, e.g., knitting tools of the machine which are to be selected. These different initial positions or levels of the selectors in the pattern wheels are achieved by level changes of the selectors effected by having an automatically operated shifting member actuate especially provided lugs on the selectors in order to lift the latter to the desired level prior to their contact with the selection band. This automatic operation of the shifting member occurs only if all selectors have beforehand been moved out of its path. In the proper selection process of the selectors, known per se in U.S. Patent 2,611,253, all inactivated, selectors, i.e., the selectors that remained in their initial positions, are guided by means of a stationary deflector cam into the interior of the pattern wheel, and the positive separation between operative and inoperative selectors, in any of the possible initial levels or positions, is blocked by means of a tapering pointed separating finger on each of the selectors that cooperates with a fixed cam surface. It may be convenient to provide each knitting system of the considered rib top knitting machine with two such pattern wheels,

namely one for the cylinder, and another one for the rib needles.

The invention will be more fully understood by the following specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred examples of the improved selector device according to the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical longitudinal section along line II of FIGURE 5, through a pattern wheel for the cylinder needles, one type of selectors being shown in the lowermost initial position;

FIG RE la is a cross section through the wheel along line 11-11 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 2 shows another type of selector;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through one-half of a pattern wheel, one selector of the same type as in FIGURE 1, however being in its uppermost initial position;

FIGURE 30 is a view in elevation of the automatically operated cam plate having an inclined plane, for the change of level of the selectors, seen in the direction of the arrow A in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 3b is a cross section through a selector head along line 12-11 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 4 shows a fragment of a punched out selection band with two double rows;

FIGURE 5 is a semi-diagrammatic plan view of the level changing, separating and deflecting elements of a pattern wheel with an exemplified position of the respective cooperating selector parts at the moment of a selecting operation of the band;

FIGURE 5a is a view of the deflector cam in the direc tion of the arrow B of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 5b is a developed projection of the separating cam seen in the direction of the arrow C of FIG- URE 5;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 except that it shows the position of parts after selection has been completed by the band.

On the circumference of a multi-feed circular knitting machine having a plurality of knitting systems, a series of pattern wheels corresponding to the number of knitting systems are provided in conventional manner as shown, for example, in FIG. 4 of US. Patent 2,611,253, the supporting members or housings 14 of the wheels, their base plates 14a and cover members 14b (FIG. 1) being mounted on a table top 13 of the machine. The rotatable needle cylinder 15 drives the pattern wheel 19 by means of its toothed rim 16 and the gear wheel 17, which. is secured to the spindle 18, in the direction of rotation. The general structure of the wheel 19 corresponds in most respects to that of wheel 30 described and illustrated in said Patent 2,611,253 and need not be described in further detail here. However, in connection with the objects of the present invention, it is desired to emphasize the following: The selectors 20 are lodged in radial small slots of the pattern wheel 19 and are longitudinally movable therein. Because their heads 21 have an enlarged concave outer face at 21a and in cooperation with a fixed cam 22, the selectors are in a position under the influence of a boss 22a when suitably selected, to render inoperative the cylinder needles 24 which are hingedly connected to the needle operating jacks 23, i.e., to move them into the interior of the cylinder slots, thereby moving the pusher butts 23a outside of the range of a step element (not shown) in the cylinder cam box as is known. The nose 25 provided on each selector 20 cooperates with the selection band 26 which in the present example, is supposed to be a film band made of tempered blued steel. In order to lock the selectors in either of their two selection positions (rest position in solid lines at the left of FIGURE 1, and operating position in dotted lines) a downwardly extending retaining finger 27 is provided, which, depending on the selection position will bear against either the front or rear of a vertical semi-annular cam surface 23 (FIGS. 3, 5 and 5b).

The internal lug 29 (corresponding generally to lug 57 of FIG. 10 of said US. Patent 2,611,253) is adapted to be engaged by and cooperate with a multiple part vertically displaeeable shifting member or driver 31 which then carries it upwardly. Finally, a substantially horizontal level bearing surface 31 on selector 20 (FIG. 3) serves of effecting desired level changes of the selector in cooperation with the curved raising or lifting cam 32 which has an inclined plane 32a (FIGS. 3, 3a and 5). The shifting members or drivers 30 rotating with the wheel and secured to guide members 33 are actuated by a single fixed cam 35 (similar in function to cam 53 of FIG. 13 of US. Patent 2,611,253) by means of pins 34. Driving pins 36 fixed in the base ring 37 effect the advance of the selection band 26 which is common to all pattern wheels, the band 26 having for this purpose conveyor perforations 38 (FIG. 4). Furthermore the selection band 26 is provided with a series of apertures 39 arranged in two superposed horizontal rows punch-ed out according to the desired pattern one above the other. A deflector cam 49 (FIGS. 1, 5, 5a and 6) disposed in the selection-transmission zone is adapted to act upon the pointed retaining fingers 27 of non-selected selectors 20. Since the means for mounting all of the foregoing guide and actuating components (28, 32, 35, 37 and 41)) in the lower half section of the pattern wheel are entirely irrelevant insofar as practice of this invention is concerned, no further detailed description or illustration thereof is required for an understanding of this invention.

The operation of this selecting device for a multifeed circular knitting machine having a common selection band and a plurality of pattern wheels is as follows: Basically, all individual operations are performed as described in said US. Patent 2,611,253 for the reproduction of a pattern or any desired needle selection the positioning of the selectors 21) by means of a selection band 26 punched out according to the pattern, is made during the first revoltuion of each of the pattern wheels 19. For this purpose, via the cam 35, the pins 34, the guide members 33, and the multisectional shifting or driving members 30, all the selectors which, depending on their last preceding positions, may be distributed in any rest and or operating position, are, on continued rotation of the wheel 19, and before arrival at the place of selection, are first pushed outwardly and brought into the lower most initial position I (FIG. 1),

If the selection band 25 in the punched row I has an aperture 39 (FIG. 4), the corresponding selector nose 25 may engage therein and the corresponding selector 20 then remains in the rest position shown in full lines in FIGURE 1 (left side).

If, on the other hand, the selection band 26 has no aperture 39, the corresponding nose 25 and thus the related selector 21) are pushed into the operating position shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 1 (left hand side) whereby the inner lug 29 extends into the path of the shifting member or driver 30, and the retaining finger 27 via the level 28b and inclined knife edge 28c behind the top edge 28d of the cam surface 28 (FIGURES 1, 5b and 5). The drivers 30 then, in the manner described in US. Patent 2,611,253 raise all selectors whose lugs 29 are situated in their paths, so that on further rotation of the wheel 19, the selector heads 21, under the radially directed action of the boss 22a (FIGURE 1a) of the fixed cam 22, can and through the agency of the concave enlargement, or head 21a, push the corresponding pusher or jack 23 (FIGURE 1, right hand side) that passes at a given instance the tangential point of contact of wheel 19 and cylinder 15 into the interior of its guide groove. As a result, the related pusher butt 23a is likewise moved toward the center of cylinder 15 and hence away from the cylinder cam box. The latter than remains ineffective on the moved pusher or jack 23 and hence has no effect on the corresponding hinged needle 24 which is consequently rendered inoperative as seen in solid lines at the right hand side of FIGURE 1. As can also be readily seen from the solid line showing at the right hand side of FIGURE 1, the retaining finger 27 of the raised selector 20 then is positioned substantially above the defiector cam 40 so that the latter cannot contact with and has no effect on said finger 27.

Those pattern selectors 20, however, which at the selection band, were left by the latter in their rest positions, and whose retaining fingers 27 consequently have remained in front of the cam surface 28 and whose butts 29 as a result were not moved into the recess of the shifting or driver member 30, as a result are not lifted by the latter and as a result arrive finally in the path of the deflector cam 40 (FIGS. 1, 5a and 5), whose curved surface 40a then guides them one after the other into the interior of wheel 19 as seen in the dotted position at the right hand side of FIGURE 1, in order thus to prevent any subsequent action on them via their noses 25 by the selection band 26. On further rotation of the wheel 19, the retaining fingers 27 of these selectors 20 will pass behind the cam surface 28 as seen in FIGURE 6, their engagement in the left hand section being facilitated by the inclination of the knife edge 28a of said cam 28, particularly in the event of undesired or accidental intermediate positioning of their respective retaining fingers 27.

After respective positioning of all the selectors 20 in a respective wheel 19 by means the selection band 26, during the first revolution of the respective wheels 19, this stored selection that has been made by the selection band 26 is maintained for a certain number of revolutions because no additional selector will be returned into the original initial position. As described in said U.S. Patent 2,611,253, this stored selection maintenance is achieved by inactivating a member (not shown) corresponding to the lowering tongue 50 or FIG. 13 of said patent.

The above-described sequence of movements is repeated for any revolution of the needle cylinder.

For effecting the automatic passage from one pattern to another pattern, or from one type of knitting to another type of knitting, the second punched row II of apertures 39 in the selection band 26 must be used.

For this purpose, before the resetting of the selectors 20, the raising cam 32 must be elevated to operative position. This is effected by a suitable drive mechanism, not shown, and produces the desired starting position II of the selector noses 25 of the selectors with respect to the band 26 (FIG. 3). The vertical shifting movement of the raising cam 32 at the required moment can be effected without any risk insofar as proper operation of Wheel 19 is concerned, since the outer shoulders 31 of the selectors 20 are then out of reach of the surface of cam 32 and consequently no undesired intermediate position of the selectors is possible (FIGS. 1 and 6).

When as by the automatic activation of said member (not shown) which corresponds to tongue 50 of FIG- URE 13 of the said US. Patent 2,611,253 and resulting lowering of the shifting or driving member 30, all selectors 20 are as described above brought into their lowermost position and at the same time pushed outwardly, they will, on continued rotation of wheel 19, find the raising cam 32 to be at the required level, so that their outer shoulders 31 will ride up the inclined plane 32a (FIG. 3a) and the selectors thus will be elevated to the starting position II with respect to the selection band 26, which may then eflfect a specified new selection of the selectors as prescribed by said punched row 11 in the above-described manner (FIG. 3) as prescribed by said punched row II.

The interpositioning of pattern wheels 19 between the revolving cylinder 15 and the selection band common to all pattern wheels requires that the band 26 rotate in opposite direction with respect to the direction of rotation of the needle cylinder. This required counterrotation necessitates as has already been indicated in US. Patent 2,611,253 the subdivision of each punched row into double rows of which one row of the doublet contains all the punch series for one-half of all the pattern wheels 19 of the machine and the other row for the other half of said wheels 19. Thus, in the case of the present invention, as seen in FIG. 4, the band 25 is provided with a pair of double rows I, I and II, II of punchings. This accordingly requires, additionally, a second type of selectors 20 (FIGURE 2) which is provided with a nose 25' that is positioned at a higher level than the nose 25 of the first type 20 of selectors, this nose 25 cooperating with punched corresponding apertures in the rows 1 and II, respectively, of the selection band 26 (FIG. 4). Thus a first half of the total number of pattern wheels 19, for example, the first twelve of a twenty-four wheel machine have selectors 20 with noses 25 and the second twelve thereof have selectors 20 with noses 25'.

Since the described and illustrated embodiment provides only for the presence of two different starting positions of the selectors 20 or 20, the corresponding selection band 26 also has only two double rows I, II and I, II of apertures. This is solely for practical purposes to achieve greatest possible reduction of level changing movement of the selectors. Hence, the punched apertures 39 are placed on band 26 in the superposer row arrangements IIIIII. However, as already men tioned, it is possible to provide a greater number of starting positions; in such a case, the selection band would also have a greater number of double rows of apertures.

In the described example, the selection band 26 is sup posed to be a tempered steel film with a mechanical action on the noses 25 or 25 of the selectors 20 and 20'. Therefore, the apertures 39 appear in any selection group as punched holes of circular, square, rectangular or other shape, arranged side by side and between which there is left a narrow separating strip of band material. Basically, the invention may also be applied to selection bands made of other materials (such as nonferrous metals, paper, plastic, textiles and others) and to different methods of recording the selection groups, with corresponding ly adapted reading and transmission systems (such as electrical, magnetical, optical or other methods.)

Finally, the drawings only show a pattern wheel as it would be designed for cooperation with the cylinder needles of a circular knitting machine. As mentioned already, however, it may be desirable for practical reasons and for techinques of knitting to provide such wheels also for rib needles. Because such wheels are, particularly with respect to the level changes of the selectors, in principle identical with the cylinder wheels and the differences residing only in minor details without importance for ths invention, they will not be specially described and illustrated in the present specification. Thus, the hereindescribed selection device with enlarged recording possibilities in the selection band (program carrier), as well as any desired selective storage of these recordings in a storage element (pattern wheel) and transmission thereby to the knitting tools to be selected, represents, on the one hand, an important structural simplification of machines equipped with it, and also increases, on the other hand, in a manner welcome from the viewpoint of knitting techniques, the stitch and pattern possibilities of such machines.

I claim:

1. A selecting device for the knitting tools of circular knitting machines, particularly of multifeed circular rib top machines comprising a plurality of pattern wheels, selectors arranged in respective of said wheels, said selectors being movable from inactive to operative positions with respect to said wheels, a common endless selection band cooperating with said plurality of pattern wheels for selection according to pattern of said selectors in respective of said wheels and permitting movement of the selected selectors into operative positions, and cam means and movable shifting members for automatically displacing the selected of said selectors from inactive into operative positions for actuation of the knitting tools which are to be operated according to the pattern dictated by said selection band and for locking the selected selectors in their operative position for any desired number of repetitions of the dictated pattern or for returning said selected selectors to their initial inactive positions in their respective pattern wheels for succeedng selection by said selector band and level changing means whereby said selectors in said respective pattern wheels may occupy more than one initial position with respect to said selection band.

2. A selecting device according to claim 1, in which said common endless selection band has recordals of sclection groups arranged in a plurality off superposed double rows for different patterns and different types of knitting fabrics, said groups being adapted to be transferred in any desired sequence to the knitting tools via the selected selectors in patterns dictated by said selection band.

3. A selecting device according to claim 2 including resting levels on said selectors of said respective Wheels and an automatically operated lifting cam adapted to co- 25 operate with said resting levels to move the selectors into difierent initial positions and levels relative to said selection band.

'4. A selecting device according to claim 3 including means whereby automatic positioning of said lifting cam is always efiected when all seceltors of respective pattern wheels have been moved out of range of said cam.

5. A selecting device according to claim 4 including a fixed deflector cam for moving all selectors of the respective pattern wheels which are not selected by the sclector band towards the interiors of the respective pattern wheels.

6. A selecting device according to claim 3 including a separating element for positive separation between operative and inactive positions of the selectors in any of their possible positions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,370,619 3/1945 Diem 66-50 X 2,611,253 9/1952 Diem 6650 FOREIGN PATENTS 744,128 2/1956 Great Britain.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner.

P. C. FAW, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SELECTING DEVICE FOR THE KNITTING TOOLS OF CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES, PARTICULARLY OF MULTIFEED CIRCULAR RIB TOP MACHINES COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PATTERN WHEELS, SELECTORS ARRANGED IN RESPECTIVE OF SAID WHEELS, SAID SELECTORS BEING MOVABLE FROM INACTIVE TO OPERATIVE POSITIONS WITH RESPECT TO SAID WHEELS, A COMMON ENDLESS SELECTION BAND COOPERATING WITH SAID PLURALITY OF PATTERN WHEELS FOR SELECTION ACCORDING TO PATTERN OF SAID SELECTORS IN RESPECTIVE OF SAID WHEELS AND PERMITTING MOVEMENT OF THE SELECTED SELECTORS INTO OPERATIVE POSITIONS, AND CAM MEANS AND MOVABLE SHIFTING MEMBERS FOR AUTOMATICALLY DISPLACING THE SELECTED OF SAID SELECTORS FROM INACTIVE INTO OPERATIVE POSITIONS FOR ACTUATION OF THE KNITTING TOOLS WHICH ARE TO BE OPERATED ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN DICTATED BY SAID SELECTION BAND AND FOR LOCKING THE SELECTED SELECTORS IN THEIR OPERATIVE POSITION FOR ANY DESIRED NUMBER 